Troy Post 70’s 17u (17 and under) team faced what was perhaps their toughest test of the season Sunday and they passed with flying colors, winning the Independence Day Classic in Columbia, Tennessee.

Post 70 scored all of their runs in the opening inning and rode that to a 3-1 win over the Mississippi Indians to cap a good weekend of baseball.

“That is a pretty well-known tournament,” said head coach Ross Hixon. “We got to see teams from Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. It was pretty good competition, so it was pretty good to win that.”

Reed Jinright got the start for Post 70 in the championship and lasted all seven innings, giving up just one run on three hits.

“Reed didn’t have his best stuff, but he was competitive,” Hixon said.

At the plate, Post 70 had contributions from everybody up and down the lineup. Both Reed and Wood Jinright contributed with a couple of hits as did Cody Hollis, Nate Renfroe, Trevor Barron and Will Aaron.

The first three batters got on base for Post 70 in the first inning, beginning with a lead-off walk. Trevor Barron, Wood Jinright, Reed Jinright and Hollis all had hits in the opening inning.

Earlier in the day, Troy defeated the host team Columbia 11-2 to advance to the championship game.

“They had beaten us early in the tournament and we got a little revenge on them,” Hixon said. “I think that, besides us, they were the best team in the tournament. To beat them like that is pretty good. We came to play and it showed.”

Everybody in the lineup got at least one hit in the game against Columbia, and coach Hixon believes that win gave them confidence heading into the championship.

“That was a pretty big game,” Hixon said. “I believe we all knew that was going to be our toughest competition. We jumped out and got an early lead and scored 11 runs. The next game started 20 minutes later and we had some momentum going from that and we scored three quick runs.”

There are still two weeks remaining until the beginning of the state tournament and Hixon hopes this is a sign of things to come.

“It’s all about momentum and confidence,” Hixon said. “When we get in the state tournament, we can have something to reflect back on. It definitely helps. We are winding it down; we have Dothan and then we have state. It gives us that taste of winning.”